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The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission and Its Political Implications

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The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission and Its Political Implications A Charge Toward the Past: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission and Its Political Implications Kira Felsenfeld Candidate Toward Senior Honors in History Oberlin College Thesis Advisor: Renee Romano Oberlin College, 2019 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 4 Chapter 1: The Charge 13 Chapter 2: Establishing Impact 30 Chapter 3: Action & Accountability 45 Conclusion 67 Bibliography 73 ​ 2 Acknowledgements Like many who decide to attempt an honors thesis, this was my first time taking on a project of this magnitude. First and foremost, I’d like to thank Professor Romano, who first introduced me to historical redress as a field, tolerated my many drafts, and pushed me to think critically about my work. Because of her, my writing and analytical thinking have grown exponentially and I continue to be in awe with the attention (and patience) she paid to every iteration of this body of work. I am forever grateful. I am indebted to the community and guidance I received in the honors seminar. Cole, Emma, David, Kira Z., Shira, and John offered not only additional sets of eyes, but also a space for comfort amidst the stress. Most importantly, Professor Wurtzel fostered an environment for despair, joy, and humor. I will miss the snacks, memes, and thoughtful guidance on this lengthy process. When I first got to Oberlin, I did not think I was going to major in history nor do I think I could ever conceptualize my being able to write an honors thesis. On my second day of classes during my freshman year, I sat down in a seminar room in Mudd Library. Professor Nunley beckoned a group of fifteen first year students into a world of women behaving badly. From that day on, I was convinced that this discipline was for me. Because of Professor Nunley, four years later, I approach my arguments with the intention set by her to “trouble the waters.” Throughout my life, dinner table conversations have been sites of of intense debate. I have been asked questions that I probably don’t know the answers to, but regardless, I have tried to answer them anyway. I’d like to think that these moments were what set me on this path of 3 intellectual curiosity, and for that I am immensely grateful. These spaces, of course, were created by my incredible family. My mom, dad, Nancy, Glenn and Matt have pushed me throughout these past four years (or maybe 22 years), to speak my mind even if my voice shakes, be curious, and most of all, ask for help. My grandparents (Eleanor, Naomi, Gary, Jeff, and Linda) continue to invigorate me with their pride and enthusiasm, be it in person or from afar. I am so lucky to have a family of educators, movement builders, and critical thinkers who I am fueled and inspired by daily. I also could not have done this without the energy of the people I see throughout the week: Jonah, my housemates, the Student Union staff, and the contact dancers. This project produced joy, dismay, anger, and anxiety. Throughout those varying emotions, these people met me with validation and kindness. Finally, given that this thesis explores a modern history, the work of historical redress still occurs today. Throughout this process, I got to sit down with people who have made historical justice their life’s mission as scholars, historians, and activists. Irving Joyner, Tim Tyson, David Cecelski and LeRae Umfleet offered invaluable insights into Wilmington’s work toward historical justice. 4 Introduction On November 10th, 1898, Alfred Waddell knocked on the door of Wilmington’s only black-owned newspaper. Behind him, stood a mob of white supremacists. The press, located on Seventh Street between Nun and Church Streets, housed Alexander Manly, the editor. Manly had written a scathing article about white women and their attraction to black men a few months prior. Once the Red Shirt Party, a white supremacist group with chapters across the state, heard about Manly’s article, they planned to destroy his newspaper and the city it resided in. Conveniently, this city was also a hub for black political success. Wilmington had a large black population and progressive government and thus posed a challenge to the vitality of white power throughout the state. Manly was aware of the provocative nature of his article and had fled Wilmington earlier that morning.1 Waddell and his cohort waited for Manly to show his face. With no answer, the mob battered down the door, smashed the windows, and let kerosene lamps hit the wooden floor, setting the building on fire. Hundreds of angry white men rampaged the city, determined to destroy any trace of black power and “kill every damn nigger in sight.” Black residents fled, so the previously black-majority city became dominated by white men. The white mob overthrew the progressive and multiracial government and elected Waddell as the new Democratic mayor. After instigating the violence, members of the riot, such as Furnifold Simmons and Charles B. Aycock later came to hold prominent positions as senator and governor of North Carolina.2 1 Leon Prather, “We Have Taken a City: A Centennial Essay” in David S. Cecelski and Timothy B. Tyson, Democracy Betrayed :The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and its Legacy (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina ​ Press, 1998), 29-32. 2 Ibid., 32 ​ 5 Little information about the riot was recorded. To this day, no one knows exactly how many people died or left the city after November 10th, 1898. No one tracked the economic damage, such as the number of businesses that closed or the number of buildings destroyed. Although Alfred Waddell wrote in his autobiography that he witnessed 20 deaths, alternate reports from the black community emphasized an amount far beyond Waddell’s calculation. Spanning from shortly after the riot until well into the 21st century, black oral tradition discouraged visitors from drinking water from the Cape Fear River because it might still be polluted from the toxins released by dead bodies from the riot. However, no written reports existed to corroborate anyone’s perspective. Thus, the dominant narrative told by whites neglected the extent of the destruction and described the white mob’s actions as necessary to protect civilization. The Wilmington Race Riot Commission was created by the North Carolina state legislature in 2000 to investigate this convoluted history. The Wilmington Race Riot Commission operated between 2000 and 2006 with the goals of opening up a “vital dialogue” and establishing an official record for the events that occurred in 1898.3 State representative Thomas E. Wright, among many intellectuals, community members, and politicians, spearheaded the effort. They sought to disrupt previous narratives of the race riot that shrouded violence and glorified white supremacy. Additionally, they hoped to assess the economic damages caused by the riot based on the limited evidence available. Given that the riot occurred 100 years earlier, the Commission faced a lack of data and first hand accounts that would give definitive understandings of the riot’s impact. In light of this challenge, they used oral histories, archival data, and alternative accounts to unearth the history. The Commission’s 3 North Carolina Center for Cultural Resources. 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission. ​ ​ ​ ​ https://www.ncdcr.gov/about/history/1898-race-riot 6 report included a series of recommendations for the North Carolina General Assembly. However, once in their hands, only some of the recommendations came into fruition. My thesis explores the possibilities and limitations of the Wilmington Race Riot Commission. As a reparative body, the Commission had the potential to make widespread change throughout North Carolina. An official authority gave state-sanctioned approval and power behind this redress effort. However, this same authority also meant that any action in response to the Commission’s recommendations had to be approved by the governing body. Filling their role as writers of history, the Commission encountered many challenges that historians face: a need to corroborate oral reports and missing pieces of evidence. However, history-writing similarly came with an important power. The Commission could disrupt conceptions of history that upheld white supremacists as heros. Through an exploration of meeting minutes, state legislation, interviews, local and national media, the report itself, and the primary sources utilized by the Commission, I question the intentions, processes and impact of this state-sanctioned body. The Wilmington Race Riot occurred on November 10th, 1898 in the larger context of a post-Reconstruction effort to dismantle black success. In the late 19th century, the Fusionists, a statewide political party that consisted of blacks and progressive whites, held power locally in Wilmington as well as statewide power in the General Assembly and governorship. “Redeemers” throughout the south claimed that white supremacy was essential to civilization. Their violent actions--which typically are now described as “race riots”--reflected their efforts to restore white dominance and to uphold white supremacy. White redeemers then established historical 7 societies, erected monuments, and created public education that would simultaneously uphold their own glory while erasing violence against black people.4 Historical redress efforts are two-pronged; they repair from past atrocities and make sure similar injustices do not occur in the future. Nations, states, and communities have investigated their own roles in perpetrating violence against specific groups. Investigations look differently across the world. Truth commissions, tribunals, and trials alike share a common goal of establishing what happened. For some, redress involves is establishing a “truth.” For others, it means sparking action through new legislation or reparations. Scholars who have studied the origins of historical redress, such as Pierre Hazan, Elazar Barkan, and John Torpey, agree that historical redress efforts began in the wake of the Nuremberg trials after the Holocaust.
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